July-September 2017 Congressional Recess Campaign

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July-September 2017 Congressional Recess Campaign

Between July 28 and September 5, most U.S. senators and representatives will be on recess in their home districts to meet with constituents. This is a great opportunity for you as a MOAA Council/Chapter leader - or simply as a MOAA member - to visit your elected officials' local offices and advise them of your and MOAA's concerns on important matters.

Specifically, we need your help to influence the FY18 Defense Authorization Bill. The goal is to ask legislators to make sure that bill:

Retains or improves upon the pay raise and force level improvements in the initial versions of the bill.

Prevents disproportional TRICARE fee increases for retired members and families, including unreasonable increases to pharmacy copays.

It's imperative to let our legislators know how we feel about these important topics.

These aren't just “defending our rice bowl” issues; they're critical matters for sustaining retention and readiness - the core of our national defense - over the long term.

To assist you in preparing for these meetings, we've developed fact sheets and talking points on the key issues listed above.

You don't have to be an expert on every issue. That's why we designed the packages as we have - to include a “key points” summary to talk from, along with one-page fact sheets on each issue that you can print and leave with the legislators and/or their staffs.

If you have more than one person in the visiting group, it helps to divide up the talking points.

One of the reasons MOAA has been successful on Capitol Hill is that we have members who are willing to contact their legislators and express their views on issues that are important to them. Leaders who can say “We represent _____ MOAA members in our state” help convey that they're speaking for a substantial group of constituents.

The grassroots support of our members has never been as important as it is now.

Join Today

Not a member of MOAA? When you join MOAA, you become part of the strongest advocate for our military's personnel and their families. The stronger our membership is, the stronger our voice becomes. Consider joining today because every voice counts.